India’s singles challenge came to an end at the US Open qualifiers after Prajnesh Gunneswaran was handed a straight-set defeat by American Christopher Eubanks in the second round. The world no. 156 Indian, who was
looking to make his second appearance in the US Open main draw, went down 3-6, 4-6 to Eubanks, ranked 216th, in a 50-minute showdown on Thursday night. The 31-year-old Gunneswaran had qualified for the main draw in 2019.
The two other Indian players in fray in the men’s singles qualifiers, Sumit Nagal and Ramkumar Ramanathan, made opening-round exits earlier this week.
Nagal lost 5-7, 6-4, 3-6 to Argentina’s Juan Pablo Ficovich while Ramkumar frittered away a one-set advantage to lose 6-4, 6-7(1), 4-6 to Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy.
Ankita Raina was also ousted from the tournament after losing her first round match in women’s singles qualifiers 3-6, 6-2, 4-6 to American Jamie Loeb.
